Day 7: Classrooms and Victoria Falls in Zambia

Day 7 began at Holy Cross in Livingstone, Zambia, where each of us was paired with a teacher for a classroom exchange. I was placed in a 12th-grade English classroom with a teacher named Nabita. Her lesson began with discussion questions about heroes: What makes someone a hero? Does a hero have to be famous? Are all heroes recognized?

From there, she introduced vocabulary words connected to the reading: diligent, lecturer, commitment, scholarship, sabbatical, and doctorate. The class had 36 learners and only 6 books, so the students divided into groups and shared. Watching them lean in together around the text was a reminder that learning does not always depend on having every resource we would want. It often depends on how teachers and students work with what they have.

One instructional practice that stood out to me across multiple countries was the consistent use of call-and-response. Teachers asked frequent questions, paused for students to fill in words, and kept the learners participating throughout the lecture portion of the lesson. Even in the older grades, students responded naturally and confidently. It is something I would love to bring back into my own classroom more intentionally.

After Nabita’s lesson, she invited me to teach an art lesson. I introduced the students to linear perspective and demonstrated both one-point and two-point perspective. They were attentive, engaged, and incredibly encouraging. At a few points, they surprised me by clapping during the lesson, which made the whole experience feel even more special.

As an art teacher, it meant a lot to share a drawing concept that is so familiar to me in a completely new setting. Linear perspective is something I teach every year, but this experience felt different. The students were incredibly attentive and responsive, and their enthusiasm surprised me in the best way. When they clapped during parts of the demonstration, it reminded me how powerful it can be to see a familiar lesson through new eyes. It made me think about how much energy, curiosity, and encouragement students can bring into a classroom when they are fully invited into the learning.

After Holy Cross, we visited David Livingstone High School. When we arrived, students welcomed us with music, drumming, and dance. They eventually invited us to join them, and once again, I was reminded that dance has been one of the fastest ways we have connected with people throughout this trip.

At the end of the performance, some of the students made hand gestures like they were sprinkling something and called out “Make it salty” or “Salt Sana.” At first, we did not understand what they meant. I thought they might have been teasing us a little about our dancing, like we needed to add more flavor. When I asked one of the faculty members, she explained that it was connected to a popular political slogan and that the students were praising us and wishing we could stay longer. That small moment turned into one of my favorite cultural exchanges of the day because it reminded me how much meaning can sit inside a phrase, a gesture, or a joke that you do not understand at first.

Later in the afternoon, we returned to Victoria Falls on the Zambia side. A small group of us did the Boiling Pot hike first. It was beautiful, but also a little unnerving when we passed several baboons on the trail. We gave them as much space as possible and were very aware that we were visitors in their home.

After the hike, I walked through the tourist market. That experience was overwhelming for me. The sellers were very persistent, and once I agreed to buy something, the process turned into more pressure to keep buying. I learned quickly that I needed to be clear and firm. Later, we stopped at another local market that felt very different. More local people were buying everyday items, and I purchased a woven basket piece that I plan to hang on my wall at home.

The rest of the afternoon was spent taking in Victoria Falls from different viewpoints. The mist, the sound, the rainbows, and the scale of the falls were hard to fully capture in pictures, but I did my best. There was a group of kids on a field trip who were excited to pose as well.

Later that night, we went back to the falls for one more unforgettable experience: the lunar rainbow. Because it was a full moon, the mist from Victoria Falls caught the moonlight, creating a rainbow in the dark. It felt unreal to stand there at night, hearing the falls, seeing the moonbow, and looking up at the stars.

Day 7 brought together so many different parts of this experience: classroom observation, teaching, student performance, cultural exchange, the Boiling Pot hike, local markets, and Victoria Falls by both daylight and moonlight. What stayed with me most was the way participation showed up again and again. It was built into Nabita’s lesson through call and response, present in the students’ performance and invitation to dance, and even part of the conversations that helped us understand phrases and gestures we might have misunderstood on our own. By the end of the night, standing near the falls under the full moon, I was thinking about how much of this program has been about paying attention, asking questions, and being willing to join in.

Day 6: Chobe, Lupani, and Lessons in Conservation

Day 6 started in the dark, which felt fitting because we were headed into a day that we never saw coming. We left early for a safari drive through Chobe National Park with our driver, Moses, who quickly became one of the highlights of the morning. He was knowledgeable, funny, and clearly enjoyed sharing the park with us.

As the sun rose, Chobe slowly came into view. Moses stopped near elephant bones and explained that elephants are known to return to the remains of their dead. It was a reminder that the animals we were seeing were not just “wildlife” to check off a list. They are part of complex social systems, family structures, and landscapes that people here are working hard to protect.

During the drive, we saw a lilac-breasted roller, lions, monkeys, impalas, kudu, giraffes, hippos, and Cape buffalo. Some animals were close enough for us to study their movement and behavior, while others appeared in the distance, partly hidden by brush or morning light. The sunrise, the dust, the quiet, and Moses’s explanations made the experience feel less like sightseeing and much bigger than a list of animals we had seen.

After the safari, we visited Lupani Primary School and spent time with students connected to Children in the Wilderness, a program that uses environmental education and leadership development to help young people understand conservation and their role in protecting their natural heritage.

At Lupani, we were welcomed with a student dance performance, visited a classroom, and observed an Eco-Club lesson outside. The lesson focused on photosynthesis, giving students a chance to connect science with the plants and environment around them. What stood out most, though, was the students themselves. They were curious, energetic, and eager to participate.

One of my favorite moments of the day came when I drew a blind-contour portrait of a student. I loved that this small drawing exercise created an immediate connection. A few curious students huddled around to watch, and their eager energy was contagious. 

Lupani made me think about how education moves beyond the classroom walls. Conservation was not being taught as an abstract science topic. It was connected to community, responsibility, leadership, and the future. Learning is more meaningful when students can see how it connects to the world around them.

After leaving Lupani, we crossed into Zambia and made our way to Livingstone, where we checked into the Zambezi Waterfront. It had been a full day: sunrise in Chobe, wildlife in its own environment, students learning under trees, and a reminder that education and conservation are deeply connected.

Day 6 was another day that was full from beginning to end. It gave me stories, images, and questions I will carry back into my classroom. It reminded me that teaching is not just about content. It is about helping students pay attention, care deeply, and understand that they are part of something larger than themselves.

Day 5: Johannesburg to Botswana

On June 28, our group left Johannesburg and began the next part of our journey. We traveled through Zimbabwe and crossed into Botswana, eventually arriving in Kasane. After several days of learning through museums, schools, monuments, and public spaces in South Africa, this day shifted us into a different kind of classroom.

Before we even reached the hotel, the landscape began to change. From the bus, we saw kudu, impalas, mongooses, baboons, and a warthog. It’s amazing to think that these are every day sightings for the people here. 

We spent the previous days thinking deeply about history, justice, education, inequality, and memory and suddenly, we were looking out the window at animals moving through the land as if reminding us that this region cannot be understood through history alone. Location matters. Environment matters. What people protect, preserve, live beside, and depend on matters too.

By the time we arrived at Cresta Mowana, unloaded our luggage, and boarded the river cruise, I think many of us were tired but still awake to the moment. As we moved along the Chobe River, we gasped, pointed and took so many pictures and videos. Again and again, people said some version of, “I can’t believe I’m here.” That phrase has been the theme of this program.

We saw elephants feeding in the grass, crocodiles resting near the water, giraffes near the riverbank, vervet monkeys, pied kingfishers, kudu, and more birds than I could identify. We even saw a hippo widen his mouth as if posing for us. But the experience was not simply about seeing animals. It was about seeing them in relationship to the river, the grass, the trees, and one another. It was a lesson in interdependence, and one that we were all eager to learn from.

As meaningful as the river cruise was, one of the strongest takeaways for me came later that evening at dinner. After we ate, a group of performers shared music and dancing with us. There were drums, whistles, singing, movement, and rhythm. Almost immediately, members of our group were invited to join in. What could have been a performance quickly became a shared experience.

That moment has stayed with me because it connected to something I have felt throughout this trip: the strong sense of community in the countries we have visited. We have seen it in schools, in public spaces, in meals, in music, and in the way people welcome us into their stories. At dinner, dancing became a way to feel that sense of community immediately. It did not require the same language, background, or experience. The rhythm made space for everyone.

That message is especially meaningful to me as a teacher. I spend a lot of time thinking about how to help students connect with one another and with the world beyond our classroom. This trip is reminding me that learning is not only about information. It is also about participation. It is about being willing to enter into an experience, even when you don’t know every step and you might look silly. Dancing that night reminded me that community can be built quickly when people are invited in with joy instead of hesitation.

As an art teacher, I also think about how humans communicate through more than words. Visual art, music, dance, clothing, food, architecture, and ceremony all carry meaning. They help people say, “This is who we are,” and they invite others to listen. That night, dance became a language we could all understand, even if we could not fully understand every song, step, or tradition behind it.

I am especially grateful to Impact Alamance and the Alamance Chamber of Commerce for making my participation in this experience possible. Their support allowed me to be part of this journey and to gather ideas, questions, and inspiration that I will carry back to my students. This experience is helping me grow as a person and as a teacher who wants students to see beyond the walls of our classroom and understand their place in a much larger world.

June 28 was a day of crossing borders, but it was also a day of widening perspective. We crossed into Botswana, onto the Chobe River, and into a deeper understanding of how place, community, and shared experience shape the way we learn. For me, it was a reminder that the world is full of lessons waiting outside the frame, and sometimes the most powerful thing a teacher can do is keep learning.

Day 4: Constitutional Court, Apartheid Museum, Soweto, and the Hector Pieterson Memorial

Day 4 gave us a deeper look at South Africa’s history, democracy, inequality, and ongoing work toward justice.

On the way to the Constitutional Court, we drove through several very affluent neighborhoods. Many homes had large walls, gates, and security features, and some had their own tennis courts. After visiting community-based schools and programs yesterday, the contrast was very clear. It gave us another view of the income inequality Daryl had told us about when we first arrived.

One small thing I keep noticing from the bus is that people are often curious about us. Many people look up as we pass. If I catch someone’s eye and smile, they almost always smile back, and most wave.

Our first stop was the Constitutional Court of South Africa. The Court is built on the site of the former Old Fort Prison Complex, where prisoners were once segregated by race. Instead of erasing that history, parts of the prison were preserved and incorporated into a building dedicated to protecting human rights.

Daryl explained that the building was designed around the idea of “justice under a tree.” Traditionally, people gathered under trees to discuss community issues and resolve conflicts. Inside the Court, the columns suggest tree trunks, the ceiling openings allow light to filter through like leaves, and tree-stump seating reinforces that idea. The space was designed to feel open and accessible rather than intimidating.

We also saw the carved wooden entrance doors, which represent the 27 rights in the Bill of Rights. The doors include multiple South African languages, Sign Language, and Braille. As an art teacher, I was especially interested in how much of the building uses art, architecture, language, and design to teach the values of democracy.

The courtroom itself was also intentionally designed. Advocates stand at the same level as the justices, which reflects dialogue rather than hierarchy. Behind the judges are low windows where only the legs of people passing outside can be seen, a reminder that justice should not be influenced by race, clothing, appearance, or status. The press area sits above everything else as a reminder of the important role it plays.

After the Constitutional Court, we visited the Apartheid Museum. I was glad I had read Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom before coming because it helped me understand more of the history as I moved through the exhibits.

The museum begins by randomly assigning visitors a ticket labeled “white” or “non-white,” and they enter through separate doors based on the label. It is a direct reminder of how apartheid classified and separated people by race.

The most difficult part for me was a video about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. One story that stayed with me was about Siphiwo Mtimkulu, a young anti-apartheid student activist who was detained, poisoned, and later disappeared and was killed. His mother, Joyce Mtimkulu, held up his hair and scalp as evidence of the poisoning. Watching families face people connected to the suffering and deaths of their loved ones was very hard to process.

After the museum, we ate lunch at Chez Alina in Soweto. The food was incredible. I tried every dish and had a Castle Lager from South Africa.

After lunch, members of KYP, the Kliptown Youth Program, performed a gumboot dance for us. They also invited us to learn a rhythm with them. A woman sang for us before we left.

Before we left, Alina spoke to us about the importance of giving local youth, especially boys, opportunities to gain work experience. She said, “I’m just polishing them for their own future,” and explained that she encourages them to take other jobs when they get the opportunity. Her restaurant is not only a place to feed people; it is also a place where young people can learn and prepare for future work.

We then continued through Soweto and passed Mandela House on Vilakazi Street.

Our final major stop was the Hector Pieterson Memorial. Darryl told us the story of June 16, 1976, when students protested the use of Afrikaans as a required language of instruction and police opened fire. Hector Pieterson was one of the students killed.

The famous photograph shows Hector being carried by Mbuyisa Makhubo, with Hector’s sister Antoinette Sithole running beside them. As we arrived, we saw Darryl embrace a woman. After telling us the story, he explained that she was Antoinette.

Darryl also shared that on another visit, he met the mother of Mbuyisa Makhubo, the student carrying Hector in the photograph. After the photo was published, Mbuyisa was harassed, went into exile, and his family never knew for certain what happened to him.

Day 4 connected several major themes from the program: inequality, history, justice, memory, art, education, and community. The Constitutional Court showed how a public building can teach democratic values. The Apartheid Museum showed the brutality of racial classification and state violence. Chez Alina and KYP showed how community members are investing in young people. The Hector Pieterson Memorial reminded us that students have played a powerful role in South Africa’s history.